Floor riser



July'zl, 1931.

H. F. RICHARDsoN FLoon nrsfm original Fi1ed Dec. 19, 1928 I 7 WMM IIIIIIIIIIIIIA WITN E55 'lll/1111112601.

@1% 1 am w1 1 www Patented July 21, 1931 PAT T FICE HENRY F. RICHARDSON, OF NORTHEORT, NEVI YORK, ASSGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO ALLAN COG-GESHALL, OF PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK. ONE-SX'll- 'EO S. R. BRAD- LEY, OF NYACK, NEW YORK, ONE-SIXTH TO A. M. CREGEB, OF ORANGEBURG, NEVI YORK, AND ONE-SIXTH TO .ALONZO B. BRADLEY, OE NEVI YORK, N. Y.

FLOOR RISER Continuation of application Serial No. 327,019, led December 19, 1928. This application led January 21, resi.

This application is a continuation of my application, Serial No. 327,019, filed December 19, 1928.

This invention relates to outlets for electrical conductors, particularly those which are used for making electrical connections through the floors of buildings.

In modern office buildings it has become customary to have electrical distribution provided under the floors in such a manner as will enable ready acccess through suitable outlets at any part of the floor for the purpose of bringing electric service to any particular locality as for example an oiiice desk. Such outlets should not be flush with the floor as they might in that case become impaired by sweepings or washings. Tt becomes desirable therefore tohave the outlet, where the electrical connections are to be made, raised slightly above the iioor and as such risers are liable to be impinged against by furniture being moved, or by the feet of persons, it becomes desirable to have the fittings properly secured against injury by any such accidents.

The invention comprises certain improvements in tubular risers or block heads7 which are to be securely attached to an underfloor conduit, or otherwise fixed in the fioor, and to rise a few inches above the floor. An insulating plug through which the conductors emerging from the tube are threaded, and to which (in one embodiment of the invention) their ends may be secured, has a neck portion which is adapted to fit on the top of the tube and form an extension thereof. To secure the insulating plug to the tubular support in a manner at once simple and rugged, I provide a sleeve that has a flange and an internal thread adapted to engage a flange and thread on the neck of the plug and the support, so that the plug may be drawn down tightly onto the upper end of the tubular support and held there securely against displacement or injury. I prefer to make the insulating plug in two halves, split longitudinally, as this greatly facilitates its manufacture and assembly. l/Vhere the wiring is to be secured to the plug, the terminals are accessible through recesses in the neck serial no. 510,239.

wall, which recesses are covered by the sleeve when the latter is screwed over the neck.

Embodiments of n y invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical section of a floor riser showing one embodiment of my invention;

Figure Q is a side view in partial section showing the outlet fitting at right angles to Figure l;

Figure 3 is a section through the outlet fitting on line of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a face view showing the interior face of one-half of the outlet fitting; and

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure l showing a modified form of outlet litting which also embodies my invention.

At l is shown the floor which may for example be the floor of an office building. At 2 is shown an example of a sub-surface conduit for the conveyance of electrical conductors. 3 is a T which may be employed in this type` of conduit to provide an outlet and support for a riser conduit 4 which projects through the floor l and rises a few inches above the floor to serve as a support for an outlet fitting or plug 5. This outlet plug 5 is adapted to receive the jacks of the usual extension plugs and is preferably split longitudinally (i. c. vertically of the fixture when positioned as here shown), into two halves and has a threaded lower portion or neck 6, that is adapted to rest on the upper end of the riser tube or support 4 and form an extension thereon. The neck 6 is recessed to expose the wiring terminals. To secure the parts of outlet plug 5 together and to the tubular support 4, T employ a sleeve 7 that has a threaded portion adapted to engage the threaded neck portion 6 of (for example) the plug 5 and has also an interior flange S which engages underneath a circumferential flange 9 of (for example) the tubular riser 4. The sleeve 7 is as shown rotatably mounted on the tube 4. The outlet plug 5, after the conductors l() are suitably secured thereto, may be secured to the tubular support 4 by holding the plug 5 stationary and turning the sleeve. It will be seen from the construction that no slack wire need be provided to push.

down into the tubular riser or support as the electrical conductors l0 may be just long enough to reach the position required for attachment to terminals 11 whose Lipper ends are embedded in the insulating material of plug 5, and whose lower ends project below the head thereof into the neck 6, so as to lie opposite the recesses or openings in the neck, as shown in Figure 2. These terminals are covered by the sleeve T when the parts are assembled. lt is also to be noted that the outlet does not have to be rotated and thus the wires do not become twisted. 'lhe same advantage appears in the modification shown in Figure 5 where the insulating` outlet fitting 5 is made in the form of a T-shaped bushing split axially into two halves, the two halves being (if desired) secured together by a screw, as at l2, and in additional held together by the clamping sleeve 7. ln this case the outlet fitting serves as al guide for an extension cord or c; ble, and it will be seen that the conductors again do not need to be twisted or even cut to be threaded through the insulating outlet. `With a riser of this construction the insulating` outlet litting is held together in a firm grip and reinforced by the sleeve 7 and the riser t, which latter in turn is anchored securely in the floor, so that the entire fitting is of a most rugged and substantial construction, able to withstand any ordinary blowy that may be brought to bear upon it by movable-furniture or by a persons foot.

I claiml. In an outlet floor riser the combination of a tubular support member and a plug niember divided longitudinally in two halves, one member having a circumferential flange and the other a threaded portion, and a sleeve having an internal circumferential flange adapted to engage against the flange of the one member and an internal thread adapted to engage the threaded member to hold the two halves of the plug member together and draw them into abutment with the support member.

2. A floor riser comprising in combination, a tubular support member having a circuinferential flange, an insulating outlet member having a screw threaded end and being split longitudinally through the screw threaded portion, and a sleeve having an internal flange adapted to engage under the flange on the support and an interior screw thread adapted to engage with the screw threads on the outlet member to hold the same together `and to the support.

3. A lioorriser comprising in combination, a tubular support member adapted to be secured to a sub-floor conduit and extend above the. floor, a longitudinally split insulating plug adapted to form insulating holders for the terminals of conductors extending through the support and having external screw threads, a sleeve turiiable on the tubular support and having means for limiting its endwise motion thereon and having also an interior s'brew thread adapted to engage with the screw thread of the plug to secure the plug to the tube without material rotation or endwise movement of the pluO.

a. A floor riser comprising an outlet niember having wiring terminals and provided with an apeitured threaded neck through which said terminals are accessible, a tubular support for said outlet member, and a threaded sleeve rotatably secured on said tubular support and adapted to be screwed over the apertured threaded neck of said HENRY F. RICHARDSON. 

